Car fender or guard



C. F. RICHAR DSON AND M. S. FERGUSON cAR FENDER 0R GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.2B, I921.

1A24 590, Patented Aug. 11., 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

I I t UWM ML Q C. F. RICHARDSON AND M. S. FERGUSON.

CAR FENDER 0R GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 28, 1921.

1,424,590, Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ATTORNEY.

, T allv'whom it may concern .1

sraras CHARLESF. RICHARDSON AND MARK S. FERGUSON, 0F KOKOMO, INDIANA.

GAR FENDER on Guam).

Specification of Letters'Patent. Patented Ai g; 1,1922.

Application filed December as", 1921. Serial No. 525,403. I v

Be it known that we, CHARLES F, R cn ARDSON andMi K S. FERGUSON, citizens of the United States, residingat Kokomo, in the county of Howard and State of Indiana, have invented-certain new and useful 1m rovements incar Fenders or Guards, of whichv the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to certain provements in fenders or guards? for power operated vehicles, and more'particularly to an automatic type of such fenders or guards adapted-for use on streetcars and the like. The principal. object of the invention is to; provide for a fender or guard of the class set forth, and one designed for automatic operation upon striking a person or object in the path 'of-the vehicle to, prevent therperson or objectfrom coming in contact With'the wheels of the vehicle, and at, the same time will cause the actuation of the control devices of the vehicle in a manner tobringthe latterrapidly to a full stop.

With the foregoing and other object-s in View, the invention resides in the certain 1 new and useful construction, arrangement and; operation of parts, as will be herein: after-more fully described, set forth, in the appended-claims, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which g Figure 1 is a "fragmentary side'elevation, partlyflin section, of the forward portion of a railroad car or the like,pand showing a preferredembodiment of the invention as applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is afrontelevation thereof,

- Fig, 3 is a'vertic al transverse section taken on theyline 3- 3 of Fig. 1, v Fig; 4 ,is a perspective view of the improvedfender or guard per se, and,

Fig; 5 is a vertical section through the valve to be actuated, upon the; operation of the fender or guard, for eifecting the emergency application of the brakes of the vehiclejor car. a

gReferringto the drawings, wherein similarcharacters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several-views thereof, the preferred form of fender or guard towhich the present invention is to be applied, and as shown, consists of a trip buffer or fender 10 pivotally depending from a shaft 11 'jouri'ia'led in brackets 12 and '13, which aredisposed in'transverse alinement at the extreme forward end' of the vehicle conn ted. to a vertical arm 15 1disposed media-11y, Of a second fender'or life guard 16, meansof a two part reach rod comprising a short arm portion 17 rigidly fastenedto'the shaft 11, and'pivotally connected,as' at 18, tothe forward end of a longer arm po'rtio'n19, which has pivotal connectio'in'as. at 2O, with the said vertical arm 15. The second fender or life guard 16 is mountedona1shaft'21 journaled in brackets 22 and 23 dependingly secured in transverse alinement at the under side of the vehicle or car body 14, at a distance in'rear'of the trip fender 10, A foot lever or'plunger' 24 is passed downwardly ofthefloor of the vehiclel4, and is pivoted at its lower end to a lever': arin 25, which is rigidly secured to the shaft 11, whereby, after the 'trip'fender' lO 'has been struck by a person or objectand has swungina rearward direction for'the actuation'of the secondfender or life guard 16 to lowered positio-n,"the;engineeror operator in charge of the Vehicle or car will re store the parts ftonormal position by pressing downwardly upon the foot' lever or plunger 24 for the purpose, a. coiled spring 26 being connected at" one Tend to the upper end of the vertical arrn 15, of the second fender or life guard, 16, andat its other end to the under side of :the'vehicle' or car body 14, manner to facilitate the quick lowering of the fender or guard 16 to its operative position. v I v the accomplishment 'of s the desired 'objects and purposes of the present invention, it is contemplated to secure on the trip fender shaft 11, by mean s ofa set screw or the like 27, a lever arm 28 having pivotal connection, as at 29, within the forward bifurcated end 30 of a reach rod or arm 31', which has its rear end portion upwardly bent, preferably on a curved line as shown,

andft'he free end of this curved portion is so that upon a partial rotation of the valve body 34 within the same, the ports 36 of the latter will open the brake pipe line 37 to atmosphere to allow for the setting of the brakes (not shown) in the ordinary manner of operation thereof. It is to be, here noted that the reach rod or arm 31 may also have connection with a control switch or the like (not sho-wn),, .whereby theypower may be cut off fro-m the driving motor or motors of the vehicle or car simultaneously with the operation of the valve 35 for the emergency operation of, the brake mechanism thereof. In the operation of the device n the installation of the samea s shown, the trip fender is normally set in substantially vertical depending position, when-the second fend'er or life guard 16' will be held in it's'raised position by the tensioning action ofthecoiled spring 26, and the valve 35 will" be closed, so that the brakes of the vehicle or car are set for operation upon the opening 'of'the air line 37 to atmosphere. "In the event of the trip fender 10' coming in con-' tact with the body of a person or an object on the road or trackway', the same will be swungin the rearward direction, and W111 break the pivotal'connection 18 between the I parts'17 and 19 of the reach rod connecting the trip fender 10 with the second fender-or life guardlG, in an upward" direction, when the coiled spring 26 will pull or tilt the latter in a forward direction, so thatits forward free edge will be lowered to within a i relatively short vdistance above" the surface of the road or trackway, when the body of the person orobject having passed under the trip'fender 10 will be lifted onto thefender or guard, or otherwise prevented from being run over by the leading wheels of the vehicle removal of the body or object from the sec- 0nd fender or life guard 16, the latter and the trip fender l0,together with the valve'35 willb'e restored to normal position, ready for a repeat operation thereon, by the engineer or operator in charge of the'vehicle or car "pressing downwardly on the foot lever or plunger 24, and thereby breaking the pivotal connection 18 of the reach rod parts 17' and' l9 ina downward direction, and again placing the spring 26 under tension. Fromthe foregoing, itwill be readily apparent that the invention provides for .Ian extremely simplified construction and arrangement of the fender actuated brake, or brake and power controlled, means,

i .and one out of the control of. the operator of the vehicle or car was to be entirely automatic in operati0n,and which is highly effective and efficient not only in the saving of a life ,of-a person, or

the value of an object, by preventing the same from being-run over by the wheels of the vehicle or car, but also in bringmg the vehicle. or car to an immediatestop, wheres by to greatly lessen the possible chance for serious-injury or damage to the person or object, such as might otherwise obtain should the vehicle or car be permittedto continue its travel after the person or ob-. ject has been struck thereby and caught up by the second fender or life 1 It is well understood that, while a preferred embodimentof thefender and brake or power operating means connected there-= with has beendescribed and illustrated herein in speclfic terms and details of construction, arrangement, and operat1on,var1'- ous changes in' and modifications of thesame may be resorted to without departing'from the spirit of the invention, orthe' scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed, is i I l. A car fender comprising a*;p-ivoted buffer normally disposed in vertical position, a fender member arranged rearwardly thereof, an extensible and contractibleelement having one endanchored and its other end attached to said member for normally tending to lower said fender, a reach rod formed of a short and a long section, pivguardn otally connected together, said elongated section attached to said member and said short section attached'to said bufier and pro= viding means when the sections are disposed in lengthwise .alinement to maintain said buffer vertical and said fender elevated against the action of said element, until said sections are swung on their pivots by the shifting of the buffer rearwardly-,'whereby the fender-member is lowered "by-the action of said element. 1

2. A car fender comprising a pivoted buffer'normally disposed in vertical position, a fender member arranged 'rearwardly thereof, an extensible and contractible' element having one end anchored and itsother end attached to said member for normally tendingto lower said fender, a reach rod formed of a short and a long-section, pivotally connectedtogether, said elongated section attached to said member and said short c section attached to said buffer and'providing means when the sections are disposed-in lengthwise alinement to maintain said bufi'er vertical and said fender elevated against the action of said element, until saidsections areswun'g on their pivots by the shifting of the bufferrearwardly, whereby the fender member is lowered by the action of said element, and a foot operated means for returning the bufier, reach rod and member to'normal position. .1

3. A car fender comprising a pivoted bufier normally disposed in vertical position, a fender member arranged rearwardly thereof, an extensible and contraotible element having one end anchored and its other end attached to said member for normally tending to lower said fender, a reach rod formed of a short and a long section, pivotally connected together, said elongated section attached to said member and said short section attached to said buffer and providing means when the sections are disposed in lengthwise alinement to maintain said bufier vertical and said fender elevated against the action of said element, until said sections are swung on their pivots by the shifting of the buffer rearwardly, whereby the fender member is lowered by the action of said element, and means projecting rearwardly from the buffer for throwing into operation the braking means of a car when the buffer is shifted rearwardly.

4. A car fender comprising a pivoted buffer normally disposed in vertical position, a fender member arranged rearwardly thereof, an extensible end contractible eleproviding means when the sections are disposed in lengthwise alinement to maintain said buffer vertical and said fender elevated against the action of said element, until said sections are swung on their pivots by the shifting of the buffer rearwardly, whereby the" fender member is lowered by the action of said element, a foot operated means for returning the bufler, reach rod and member to normal position, and means projecting rearwardly from the buffer for throwing into operation the braking means of a car when the buffer is shifted rearwardly.

In testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures hereto.

CHARLES F. RICHARDSON. MARK S. FERGUSON. 

